


Splash Free

by Saku015



Category: Free!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, Alternate Universe - Merpeople, Alternate Universe - Splash Free, Childhood Friends, Fairy Tale Elements, Fear, M/M, Ocean, Promises
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-29
Updated: 2018-08-23
Packaged: 2019-06-18 04:24:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,066
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15477606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Saku015/pseuds/Saku015
Summary: Oneshots for Makoharu AU Week 2015.





	1. Splash Free

"It was so kind of Prince Rin to let us swim in his oasis, right Haru?" Makoto asked his new friend as they were riding on the young merchants’ beloved camel, Chappy towards Makoto’s house.

"The oasis is out of town, so basically it is not his property," Haru mumbled quietly. It was not like he did not like the prince. Not at all – after the day they spent together, he looked at him as one of his best friends, but sometimes he found him too competitive.

"Y-yeah! You are right!" Makoto said, laughing awkwardly while squeezing Haru’s waist tighter. There were two things he was afraid of: ghosts and high places – but he would have never admitted it to the other for the world. Unfortunately, he had a feeling that Haru knew it by instinct and that was the reason why he made Chappy walk especially slowly.

 

As soon as they had stepped into Makoto’s house, four pairs of little arms were around his waist. Makoto smiled down at his little siblings, stroking their hair affectionately.

"Big brother!" The little girl greeted him smiling, then peeked behind him. "Did you make a new friend?" She let Makoto go and walked up to Haru. Haru backed away, because of the sudden movement.

"Yes, I met him in the oasis today," Makoto said, turning around. He looked at Haru and smiled. "Haru, these are my siblings, Ran and Ren."

"H-hello!" Haru said, raising up his hand shyly. He was not a man of many words and those two little balls of energy frightened him – more than he wanted to admit. 

"Where is mom?" Makoto asked to make his siblings pay their attention to him once more. Haru was really grateful for that.

"She is still at the market, but she left some sup in the kitchen," Ran said and – after grabbing Harus’ hand – started walking towards the kitchen. "Our dad is a fisherman, so he is barely at home."

Haru nodded in acknowledgement of the information. He only hoped that he could go to sleep sooner than later. That day was exhausting. Both mentally and physically.

 

After dinner, they lay in Makoto’s room. Haru on the bed, while Makoto on the ground with a sheet underneath him. Haru protested with all he had when Makoto declared the sleeping arrangements, but against that voice and bright green eyes, he could not do anything.

"Makoto…" Haru started, turning towards the window. He hoped Makoto could not see his blush in that way. He heard some shifting which meant Makoto pushed himself up to his elbows. "Thank you for everything!" The kind chuckle he heard made Haru’s heart flutter.

"It is nothing, Haru," Makoto said, touching his shoulder. "I am more than happy because we could meet!"


	2. Merman

Makoto did not like the ocean. If he wanted to be totally honest, he hated it. After his friend had died in that storm, he always had chills running down on his spine whenever he even laid his eyes on it. Unfortunately, his fathers’ boss held his birthday party on his own boat and their family was invited too. He knew that his dad could not say no, so he gathered all the courage he had and stepped onboard.

 

"Come on, Haru! Do not tell me, you are not interested!" Rin nagged his best friend, pulling his arm.

"No, I am not," the young mermaid answered nonchalantly. He was floating in the water with both of his eyes closed, so he could shut the outside world out. "Ask Yamazaki to go with you."

"Tch, you are not fun," Rin tsked, then swam away angrily.

Haru just sighed. He knew that his red haired friend was interested in all the things which were related to humans and he was aware of the ship which was above them as well, but he decided that he would not be bothered by it in any way.

Suddenly, he felt as if he was being watched. He opened his blue eyes and stared into two beautiful green ones. Of course, he knew that the little boy did not look at him, only at the surface of the water, but something still urged him to take a look a little bit closer.

 

Makoto was standing beside the railing, squeezing it for dear life. He was examining the water, trying to find any sign of the coming of a storm. He knew that he should have watched the sky instead, but for some reason, he just could not turn his gaze away from it. 

Maybe that was the reason why he caught a glimpse of that small movement below the surface. He leaned forward and saw the little boy beneath the surface examining him as well. Makoto gasped and opened his mouth to scream for help when a little head popped out of the water.

"Why are you so frightened?" The little boy asked Makoto, titling his head.

"B-because you are in the water without anything you can hold on to!" Makoto explained while panicking.

"Of course I am. The ocean is my home after all," Haru said, lifting his tail out of the water. He saw Makotos’ eyes widening in surprise.

"Mermaid-san?! But… but… I thought that… you exist only in fairy tails!" Makoto was so shocked he could only stutter.

"We are only cautious. We do not want humans to find out about us. They would chase after us and would hurt the ocean while during it." Haru saw how Makotos’ expression darkened.

"I hate the ocean," Makoto said, looking away. "It swallows people and they never return."

Haru winced. He remembered there was a big storm few days ago in which lots of boats were sunk. Haru clenched his little hands into fists. He never thought he would be angry with the water, but seeing the sadness on Makotos’ face made his young blood boil. He wanted to cheer his new friend up somehow.

"What if I say the ocean can be beautiful too?" Haru asked, swimming closer to the boat. Makoto looked at him with disbelief in his eyes. "When we will become older, I will definitely show you! Will you swim with me?" He asked, looking up at the little human boy.

Makoto felt a smile appearing on his face as he nodded his head. Maybe the ocean was not as scary as he thought.


End file.
